Lilacs
by Lost Legendaerie
Summary: -Oneshot- Joshua seeks solitude in Miyashita Park and finds some things he wasn't really looking for. "I think lilacs smell like memories... " Joshua X Rhyme, but just a little. Rated to be extra-safe. R & R please!


A/N. I know, I know, I know. I've got a whole lotta other stories to be working on... but I couldn't help myself. I was staring out the window and this popped into my head- and once I started writing... I just couldn't stop. I'm sorry if it sucks, and I know it takes an update away from my other work, but.... *hearts* Flowers and symbolism and spring, oh my! (look up 'Language of Flowers' on Wikipedia if you seek Joshyme romance~)

Oh, and um... End Of Game spoilers follow. And this sorta ties in with my Joshua back-story ideas. ^^ Thou art warned. Oh, and the 'T' rating is just more or less my default setting for stories. Slapped on there just for the hint of promiscuity in Joshy's flashback. Juuust in case.

This is (accidentally and conveniently) in honor of WEWY's one-year anniversary! Three cheers for Squeenix's genius! Huzzah!

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Lilacs

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It was an early spring day that Shibuya's Composer decided to visit the gardens of Miyashita Park. The sky was thickly carpeted by soft gray clouds, pregnant with rain yet holding back their downpour for some reason for the first time in a few good days of rain. The air was still cool and smelled fresh, a symphony of just-cut grass, damp earth and the enticing scents of the newly opening blossoms.

Joshua had chosen such a gray day as to be as alone as possible. He would have to be returning to the RG to really feel the effects of spring- and besides, when the sunlight hit is hair just right, no one could think he was anyone but Arisa Kiryu's child.

Which was, of course, a problem. Being dead and all, it would look rather suspicious for him to be recognized as the son of one of Japan's most prized models.

Looking for all the world like a typical teenage boy, Joshua padded noiselessly down the stepping stone pathway that wound through the park, feet making almost no noise upon the rocks. He hadn't visited this garden for so long- not for a good few years. The thought of it, however, had been sitting in the back of his mind for a month of so now, first a small seed, then growing and growing until it filled his thoughts with the scent of flowers and the image of the greenery, setting down roots until he had no choice but to go.

The cherry blossoms were just unfolding their delicate petals to let the scent waft teasingly though the air, mingling with the already present hyacinths and early roses, along with one or two verbenas determined to keep blooming for just a few days longer. But none of those scents made him stop dead in his tracks.

Until...

It was a faint scent, clean but soft, sweet but light, fresh but classic. _Lilacs._

A sudden aching filled his chest, like a fond memory forgotten, or a favorite toy lost. He had to find those flowers. _Now._

_Hurry, now, Joshua, hurry hurry_. His thoughts urged him on until he was almost at a run. _Hurry, Joshua, or you'll forget again_.

Pitter tap tap patter tap tap, went his feet on the pathway; _Don't forget, Joshua, hurry hurry hurry_, went a voice in his head.

The scent grew stronger.

_Hurry, Joshua, hurry..._

Suddenly, his feet slid neatly from underneath him, sending his slender frame hurtling to the ground, landing in a heap of limbs. With a groan of pain and a quiet hiss of fury- _stupid Joshua! You know everything's damp from the rain_-, the Composer picked himself of the ground and brushed some grass clippings from out of his hair. Raising his head, his gaze was caught by a small cluster of dainty purple flowers. He had found them.

It was a small bush, with thin hateful looking weeds intertwined with the branches as if pulling it down from heaven to hell, but for once, the flaws of something was lost on Joshua, and he buried his nose in the flowers, gently cupping the cluster in his hand, took in a deep breath, and let the memories wash over him like rain.

_'A very young Joshua was pattering after a tall, elegant woman who seemed to float ahead of him in her long shimmering cream colored dress._

_"Hurry, Yoshiya, " came the sweet bird like voice. "Hurry or you'll miss seeing your daddy. "_

_Small, thin arms reached upwards pleadingly as he neared his mother- then he was lifted gently, ever so gently and smoothly, to be cradled in her arms and lay his cheek against her chest, breathing in the scent of her corsage._

_"There, " she sighed, a note of melancholy in her voice that he had missed before. She nodded at the tall, stern faced businessman in the middle of the room, dark grey hair slicked back, his steely golden eyes taking in all as a small copy of him stood proudly beside him, holding the hand of a dark haired woman._

_"That's your daddy. Isn't he splendid? "_

_"But, Mother... why doesn't he come over and say hello? "_

_"He doesn't... know about you, sweetie. You're all mine. But it's ok, " here her voice caught a little, and her blue eyes sparkled like stars, "I can love you enough for both of us. Ok, Yoshiya? "_

_And she planted a tender, motherly, teary kiss on his pale forehead. '_

The petals of the lilac cluster brushed gently against his cheeks, wiping away a few of the tears as he pulled away from the flower, sighing deeply as he blinked and shook his head to snap out of the daydream.

And that's when he saw the girl.

She looked to be in her early teenage years, with short blonde hair that was kept out of her startlingly large blue eyes by a bandana. She was wearing simple black pants and a short sleeved white shirt with a green canvas apron over it, gardening tool tucked in the front pockets.

_Oh, great. The _gardener_ caught me crying._

She stayed respectfully quiet and still as Joshua wiped the last couple tears off his cheeks, wracking his brain for some kind of comeback. As nothing came to his mind and he simply sat there in the grass looking startled and disagreeable, the girl started to go to work on the little lilac bush.

With a steady hand, she gently was pulling up weeds around the plant, clearing space for it to grow, speaking in a gentle, low voice as she worked.

"You like the lilacs, too? "

Still feeling vulnerable and defensive, Joshua wrapped his arms around his legs, let his bangs fall into his face and hide those still bright from tears eyes from the gardeners view. "I guess. "

"They're my favorite, you know, " she murmured, her hands and eyes on the task at hand. "I always thought they smelled like memories. "

Joshua managed a 'hmph' of mingled agreement and scorn as the gardener talked on, even as he felt himself slowly relaxing.

"Lilacs are rare, you know, and they don't grow around here. They're so different from the other plants in the park, and this one needs special care since it's so young. "

She smiled shyly as she untangled a creeping weed from the lilac's slender branches. "I know that someday it will thrive on its own. Its roots will grow strong, and no weed or storm could harm it. But until then, I'll keep taking care of it. Even if no one else notices it, or thinks anything's special about it. Because I think it's special. "

Here she cast a shy glance at the boy sitting a few feet away. "Because someday, the whole park might smell of memories. And that keeps me coming out here even on days like this. "

The Composer blinked, drawing in his eyebrows fractionally. _Is this girl trying to tell him something? She seems... familiar. And she has the same kind of disarming vibe as Hanekoma._

At last finished, the girl stood up and wiped her hands off on the apron, sighing quietly. Joshua turned his attention back to the lilac, noting how much more alive it seemed.

"Maybe I'll come back then. When it's older, " he offered. Really, though, he had no such intention. Right?

"I'd like that. I think the lilac would, too. " She smiled as Joshua stood up, brushing off his pants.

He cleared his throat. "It was nice meeting you... "

"Rhyme, " she finished.

Something clicked in his head. _Oh. Yes. The little Bito girl from my Game with Megumi last year._

He gave a very slight smile. "I guess I'll see you around then, Rhyme. "

"Maybe you'll come back sooner. To visit the lilac? " She asked hopefully, blue eyes sparkling

Without really knowing why, he let his smile widen and become genuine, unaware of how it changed his features. "I might. "

And he had every intention to this time.

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Reviews are appreciated. Thanks!


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